Elvis Presley stormed to the top of the British singles charts yesterday and rewrote pop history in the process as he overtook the Beatles to become the artist with the most number one hits in the chart's 50-year history.

A dance remix of the track A Little Less Conversation, which failed to reach the charts in Britain when it was released 34 years ago, proved to be the winning formula, attached as it is to the World Cup Nike advert which features a host of World Cup stars.

The song first appeared in one of Elvis's movies in the 1960s and as the B-side to his 1968 single, Almost in Love. It eventually featured on a budget Elvis album in 1971.

The remix by Amsterdam-based DJ and record producer, JXL, has however, turned the King's fortunes around, providing him with his 18th number one.

JXL was previously known as Junkie XL but altered his monicker because the Elvis Presley estate did not want him to remix the track if his name contained what could be perceived as a reference to drugs.

Its release marks the first contemporary remix of Presley's music allowed by RCA, who own rights to the original master recordings of Presley's entire catalogue.